


For the Guy Who Has Everything

by salsgal



Series: The Billionaire and the Kid from Brooklyn [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-20
Updated: 2012-06-20
Packaged: 2017-11-08 03:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/438836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salsgal/pseuds/salsgal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you get for the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist who has (or can buy himself) everything?</p>
            </blockquote>





	For the Guy Who Has Everything

**Author's Note:**

> There's brief reference to Tony's wild partying days, but it's brief and not graphic in any way, so I'm leaving this with a G rating
> 
> As always, many thanks go out to my beta, [CaptainCritical](http://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainCritical) and my inspiration and beloved wife, [Sal](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Sal). Any remaining errors are entirely my fault and probably the result of typing this in on very few hours of sleep. =)

The thing about shopping for Tony Stark was that he had the money to buy anything he wanted, and absolutely no impulse control. If he saw it and he wanted it, then he bought it.

It made it very hard to get him something special for his birthday.

The thing was, Steve wanted this birthday to be special. It was the first _important date_ since he and Tony had stopped dancing around each other and finally admitted their mutual attraction, and Steve wanted to hit it out of the park.

Even Pepper and Rhodey didn't have any suggestions for him. Rhodey gave Tony the same thing every year (a bottle of Glenlivet) and Pepper usually took Tony out to dinner at whatever hole-in-the-wall restaurant was currently his infatuation.

Steve asked them both about birthday parties, and they made nearly identical faces and gave nearly identical comments about bad P.R. and political incidents, too many naked women and police involvement. Neither of them said anything about the kind of birthday party Steve had in mind.

So he set about planning, contacting people, calling in a few favours to ensure that the date would be held open, that certain people would be available to be there. He even asked Fury to contact the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to cover any "emergencies" that might come up.

He dug into his savings, only to find the money replaced and an email in his inbox from Pepper, reminding him that he had an expense account and he should use it. He emailed her back to ask about how much he could spend, and she laughed at him.

He got caterers' numbers from Pepper, placed his order, and then got four separate phone calls in follow-up, each one to confirm that yes, the order was to be delivered to Tony Stark's Malibu residence on May 23rd, and yes, it was really that small an order, and no, he hadn't really meant to order food and alcohol for 500-plus people.

He was pretty sure he was glad he hadn't been to any of Tony's previous parties.

Once all the plans were made, invitations confirmed, and details ironed out, there was only the waiting left. And the worrying. What if Tony didn't want this kind of party? Maybe he should have kept looking for something to _buy_ for him. What if this all blew up in his face?

It was Rhodey who finally told him to chill out and settle down. Tony hated loud parties, Rhodey said, where he had to be 'on', where he had to wear his public face and live up to his public persona. There was a reason why Tony always got drunk at big parties. What Steve was planning was perfect, and Rhodey wished he'd thought of it himself, years ago.

J.A.R.V.I.S. helped keep Tony in the dark, and also helped Steve set everything up in the mansion, itself. The A.I. knew Tony's music preferences better than anyone, knew what video games were likely to be the most popular, and knew how to ensure that Tony didn't notice any of the preparations that were being made.

Steve set up a dinner date with Tony for the evening of the 23rd, asked Pepper to make sure that Tony remembered, and managed to make it through dinner at Casa de Frijoles without giving anything away. It really was the best Mexican food he'd ever had, and the owners were delighted that he spoke enough Spanish to get by - he got a raised eyebrow and a grin from Tony (who was apparently fluent), as well.

After supper, they drive along the PCH for a while in Tony's birthday present to himself, a fire-engine-red Bugatti Veyron sporting customized STARK 34 plates. Tony didn't seem to notice when Steve kept checking his watch. At seven-thirty, Steve suggested that they head back to the mansion to watch a movie, and Tony easily agreed.

There were no other cars parked in the drive to give anything away - the expected guests had all arrived by cab and would be staying the night. Tony parked the Veyron in the garage and, to Steve's pleasant surprise, didn't seem at all inclined to stop and play in the workshop. Steve fought the urge to fidget as he followed Tony up the stairs. He trusted J.A.R.V.I.S. to let the others know that they were coming, and he hoped - _God_ he hoped - that this was going to go over well.

The main sitting room was mostly dark as they came up the stairs, and Tony hesitated, frowning faintly. The lights usually came on automatically - J.A.R.V.I.S.matically.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.? Lights?"

"Of course, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied smoothly, and the lights came up -

"SURPRISE!"

Tony stumbled back against Steve, who easily caught and steadied him. The room was full of people - well, not full. The rest of the Avengers were there, and Coulson, Hill and Fury stood in a small group to one side. Pepper and Rhodey were in the middle of the room, and Pepper was holding a half-sheet birthday cake frosted in red and gold, with the words "Happy Birthday Tony!" in glossy black gel. How they'd managed to hide the flickering of the candles was a mystery, because they were lit and slowly dripping wax onto the cake.

Tony _stared_ , just stared, completely speechless. He turned to look at Steve, who was grinning nervously, and then turned back to stare at the cake and the guests.

On Pepper's cue, they all began to sing Happy Birthday, and Tony swallowed hard when he heard Steve's strong, solid tenor behind him. Steve urged him forward, and for the first time in far, far too long, Tony leaned in to blow out the candles on his birthday cake.

Instead of hundreds of guests, none of whom were actually his friends, Tony spent an evening with ten people he knew; playing video games on the massive glass displays that doubled as his panoramic windows; munching on chips and dip, fried cheese sticks, potato skins and other fun finger foods; drinking pop and the occasional beer; and eating chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream off of Iron Man paper birthday plates.

It was completely different from any birthday party he'd ever had. It was also, by far, the _best_ birthday party he'd ever had.

At some point after 2am, he ducked outside to the patio, taking a break from the noise to just breathe for a few minutes. He braced himself against the railing and looked out over the water, and smiled when he felt Steve's arms come around him from behind. "Hey," he said quietly, leaning back against Steve's chest.

"Hey." Steve hooked his chin over Tony's shoulder and tightened his arms into a hug. "You okay?"

Tony smiled and hummed in the affirmative, still staring out over the water. "Just thinking. Don't worry. They're good thoughts."

Steve chuckled. "All right, fair enough. Want me to leave you alone for a while?"

Tony brought his own arms up around Steve's holding him in place. "Nnn. Stay. This is... nice."

Steve tightened his arms again, and smiled. "Mm hmm. It _is_ nice. Quiet."

Tony laughed softly. "I have _never_ had a quiet birthday."

Steve grinned at that. "I'm guessing this is more quiet than most, though. No live band, no random party crashers..."

Tony bumped his head back against Steve's shoulder. "Hey. Sometimes loud is good. But yeah, this is..." They both laughed as they heard Clint whooping inside. "This is perfect. This is..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Just exactly perfect. Thank you."

Steve closed his eyes and pressed his cheek against Tony's hair. "You're welcome. Happy birthday, Tony."

Another whoop from inside made them both jump, and then Clint called Tony's name. "Stark! You're up! Rematch, bay-bee!"

Steve hid his face against Tony's hair and laughed. "Your adoring fans await you," he teased, and then laughed again at Tony's undignified snort. "Hey, it sounds better than 'Clint thinks he can kick your ass at Mario Kart'."

Tony turned in Steve's embrace and slid his arms around Steve's narrow waist. "Clint is delusional," he declared. "It's kind of cute, really. Steve..." He inhaled deeply through his nose, and then smiled, a genuine smile that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. "Thank you. I know, I know, I said that already, but seriously... this has been the best birthday that I can remember. Now, granted, I can't remember a lot of my birthdays, but that's because they weren't like this."

Steve laughed softly. "You're welcome. I wasn't sure if... I couldn't figure out what to get you, and this seemed... like something that would mean more than _buying_ a gift that you might not even want."

Tony shook his head. "This is _perfect_. Didn't I already say that this is perfect? This is better than..." He stopped and started over. "This _means_ something. You thought about it, it's not just - it's personal. It means more to me than..." He trailed off again, and tipped his head up to kiss Steve, feeling the other man's lips curve up into a smile against his mouth. "It means everything. I love you. And that's just about enough of me being sappy."

Steve's huff of laughter and his murmured "I love you, too," were warm against Tony's lips. He kissed Steve again before drawing back. "Come on. I have a rematch to win and a reputation to uphold. And then you can kick _my_ ass at Mario Kart, Captain super-human reflexes."

Steve returned the kiss and grinned at Tony's playful jab. "That's a date. Come-"

He was cut off by Clint's shout of "STARK! Come on, before I declare myself the winner by default!"

"Keep your pants on, Barton!" Tony hollered back, and then grabbed Steve's hand and pulled him, laughing, back to the party.


End file.
